


Everything I Didn't Slay

by dangeroftheride



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-01 10:12:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4015852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dangeroftheride/pseuds/dangeroftheride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten months after the start of the zombie apocalypse 5 Seconds of Summer isn't a band anymore, they're just four boys trying to figure out how to survive and who they can trust.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Ashton  
  
Ashton liked driving at night.  
  
No one had questioned him about it when he had volunteered to take the shift between midnight and six in the morning. But it was because at night it was easier to forget just how alone they were. At night it was easy to pretend that there was no one else on the road because they were all tucked away safe in their beds, and not because entire cities were abandoned.  
  
It had been ten months since the world was struck with a disease that no one could cure, since the fucking zombie apocalypse had struck the entire globe and life had changed. Ashton still remembered the mayhem that had followed when the news had confirmed the first outbreak in Florida somewhere. 5 Seconds of Sumer was supposed to play a show that night in Chicago but everything had been canceled as the world fell into a panic. They’d taken off for the airport, but all travel out of the country was stopped. And the next thing he knew it was just him and his bandmates alone, with no way of contacting their families, and no idea how to survive in this new world.  
  
They’d learned quickly to be careful about trusting people that they met on the road. Everyone was out to survive, even if it meant stepping on someone else’s neck. And the only people he knew he could trust were currently sleeping in the back of the van that he was driving.  
  
Taking a quick peek over his shoulder he smiled at the way that the three of them were curled up nearly on top of each other. They were relaxed in a way that they could never be while they were awake. Surviving in this world meant that they were always had to be worrying about something, always having to be vigilant.  
  
He still remembered the first time Luke had picked up a rusty axe and used it to cut off the arm of a zombie that was chasing Calum. For a split second he looked so distraught, and then the zombie had continued after Calum and Luke had hardened. He didn’t hesitate to take its head off. And Ashton didn’t think that he had ever turned back to the soft boy that he had been before.  
  
Two weeks later they’d raided a gardening shed and picked up a couple of machetes that never seemed to leave Luke’s side. That was the same day that they’d found out that Calum was surprisingly good with a shotgun. And by the end of the week he was so efficient at reloading the gun that it actually scared Ashton a little bit.  
  
Michael seemed to be taking everything the hardest. He’d played enough games before the apocalypse to be able to help them all figure out the best way to handle most situations, and he could keep it together better than anyone in the face of danger, but the whole situation seemed to be eating away at him. Ashton wasn’t sure if it was the loneliness or the bleak outlook of their situation, but he knew that he had to keep a close eye on him.  
  
Because that was what Ashton did and what he had always done for the band. He kept them together, he kept them up and running through the daily grind. He made sure that they were okay, and that they all ate and slept enough.  
  
Someone had to.  
  
The song on the radio changed to a familiar one and Ashton started singing along. Whoever was in charge of the radio station at night had pretty good taste in music and Ashton appreciated the comfort of Green Day when he was driving through the night. Music was one of the things that they had all missed the most while they were on their own.  
Discovering the radio station had been a complete accident. Calum had been riding shotgun while Michael drove, brooding over some argument that he and Luke had gotten into. He mindlessly fiddled with the buttons on the radio until suddenly they could hear something. Michael had instantly pulled the van over to the highway and stared at the radio with wide eyes as Calum was trying to figure out what frequency it was on.  
  
Ashton and Luke had crowded towards the front of the van as the four of the silently took in the static filled sound of a song that they didn’t know in awe. (They would later find out that it was a Fleetwood Mac song, and they all sang along every time it came back on.) Immediately they had been determined to figure out where the source was. If there was a radio station playing music, then there must also be people. They’d spent so long driving without a destination that they weren’t entirely sure where they were anymore, and they had no idea where to start looking.  
  
It wasn’t until the next day that they’d heard someone mention a city.  
  
Pittsburgh.  
  
They’d sat around and talked it through for a couple of hours before making a decision. They knew that big cities were dangerous places to be. But the other option was to keep driving aimlessly and hoping that they continued to come across supplies. And so they had decided to risk it. They’d been driving north almost nonstop since they made their decision, and Ashton figured that they had to be getting close.  
  
There was no specific plan for when they got there, but they were all still hopeful that this would lead to something good. The voices that occasionally spoke over the radio were the closest thing to outside human interaction that they’d had in a long time. The idea of finding a place where other people had settled down was enticing.  
  
The one working headlight on the van lit up a roadside sign and Ashton let out a little cheer when he read 47 miles to Pittsburgh. The sun would be coming up any minute now and that was his cue to pull over and wake Calum up for his turn to drive.  
  
When the sun started to peek up over the horizon, Ashton found a rest stop and pulled the van over. They’d check it for supplies before moving on, but first he had to wake up the sleeping boys in the back.  
  
“Rise and shine, boys. We’ve got work to do.”


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Luke  
  
Luke had found a new appreciation for mornings since the beginning of the apocalypse.  
  
Maybe it was just the thrill of surviving through the night but Luke didn’t mind getting woken up anymore (though he was still was grateful that they didn’t make him drive in the mornings).  
  
The rest stop that they’d scavenged through that morning hadn’t had much in it but they’d picked up a box of protein bars and a couple Resses peanut butter cups. One of the cars in the lot had produced a pair of hand guns that Michael had called dibs on. No one had argued since Luke had accidentally sprayed him with guts when he’d taken off the head of the lone zombie resident.  
  
Staring out the window, Luke was thinking about how much he liked the calm of the mornings. He was jolted from his thoughts when the van went over a bump.  
  
“Whoops, sorry!” Calum was laughing manically from the driver’s seat while Michael cursed at him.  
  
Luke turned around in his seat to see that they had, in fact, run over a zombie.  
  
“You’re going to wreck the van if you keep doing shit like that,” Ashton warned.  
  
Calum rolled his eyes. “Okay, Dad.”  
  
They all laughed as Ashton reached forward and hit Calum on the arm.  
  
“Stop assaulting the driver!” Calum shouted, swerving the car a little to prove his point.  
  
They were all laughing and trying to talk over each other, the excitement of finally getting close to their destination making them giddy.  
  
As they drove there were more and more houses, and the feeling of being surrounded by things he couldn’t see was making Luke fidgety. They all knew that they should stop for supplies, and as they crossed the invisible line into Pittsburgh they all readied themselves for whatever they might find. Calum waited until Michael pointed out a cluster of houses to turn off the highway and head towards them. It was a little street full of identical houses that didn’t look like they had been entirely looted already.  
  
They waited a minute in the car or see if there were any signs of movement around and when they heard nothing, they got out of the van and headed towards the first house on the street. Luke knocked on the front door, a habit that the others had long since stopped teasing him about, and when he heard no reply, he checked the doorknob.  
  
“It’s locked,” he announced, stepping back and making room for Calum who had a goofy grin on his face.  
  
“Think I can kick it in?”  
  
Luke laughed. “It’s way too heavy.”  
  
With a pout, Calum used the butt of his gun to break the window in the door before reaching in and undoing the lock.  
  
As the four of them walked into the house, Luke noticed that it was almost empty and that made him nervous. Because it wasn’t just small things and supplies that were missing; it was all of the furniture and anything that hadn’t been attacked to the walls. (A closer look in the kitchen revealed that even some of the cabinets that had been attached to the walls were gone.)  
  
“Well this is new,” Luke commented as he passed Ashton in the dining room.  
  
Ashton opened his mouth to speak at the same time as a couple of shots sounded from upstairs. Following the noise, they both took off only to meet Michael and Calum both coming down the stairs.  
  
“Time to go!” Michael physically turned Luke around and gave him a gentle push down the stairs and didn’t let go until they were at the front door.  
  
Luke stopped as soon as he stepped onto the front porch, causing Michael and the others to crash into him. He swore under his breath as he took in the disaster in front of him. There were a couple of zombies standing around their van, and several more made their way towards the house, probably drawn by the sound of the gunshots.  
  
“Try not to destroy the van this time.” He could hear Calum getting his gun out, and the last thing they all needed was to be stranded because Calum had blown a hole in their ride. Again.  
  
Luke didn’t need to see him to know that Calum had flipped him off.  
  
He waited for Calum to take his first shot at the zombies slowly advancing on the van to start moving and swinging his machete at the ones closest to him. As he cut the head off of what had once been a teenage kid, Luke had a moment of thought that this should probably be more disturbing to him than it was. But as a second zombie turned in his direction, he was fully reminded that he had been dealing with these things for ten months with no end in sight, no idea what happened to his family, and no guarantee that he was going to get to see tomorrow. As he severed his second head of the day, he turned to see his former bandmates all checking to make sure that there were no more zombies incoming.  
  
And that was when they heard the clapping.  
  
They all spun towards the source of the sound, which turned out to be the treehouse in the neighboring front yard. Leaning against the railing was a distinctly living woman with red hair and a condescending smirk on her face.  
  
“I have to admit, I’m a little impressed.” She shouldered the rifle in her hands and jumped over the railing and onto the ground.  
  
“Who are you?” Ashton’s voice was level and a quick glance told Luke that Calum had his shotgun pointed at the stranger.  
  
“My name is Daphne. And you are?” She was advancing on them with a slightly amused expression.  
  
“Ashton. Calum. Michael. Luke.”  
  
Luke was the closest too her and when she reached him she put her hand out for him to shake. “Well it’s nice to meet you.”  
  
Luke reached out and grasped her hand. The shake was firm and short, and Luke couldn’t help the feeling that she was assessing him.  
  
The silence was broken by the sound of another engine as a Jeep came tearing around the corner carrying four very intimidating men.  
  
“Everything good here Daph?” The man riding shotgun was glaring at Luke.  
  
Calum still hadn’t lowered his shotgun and Luke was really hoping that he wasn’t going to do something stupid.  
  
“Yeah, we’re all good. I’m just making some new friends.” Daphne was calm, but Luke was aware that she was eyeing Calum and his gun. Turning back to Luke she smiled. “So what brings you to Pittsburgh?”  
  
“The radio,” Luke answered without a second thought.  
  
The guys in the Jeep chuckled and Daphne smiled. “Remind me to tell Adella that it worked.”  
  
With a nod, the driver of the Jeep started the engine, and took off back the way he came.  
  
Daphne was left there with them, looking expectantly at the van. “Come on. Let’s get a move on before any more zombies show up.”  
  
“What?” Michael asked in confusion.  
  
“You guys are giving me a ride so that I can tell you where the bunker is. Now let’s go.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Michael

Michael had laughed a little when Daphne had first introduced them to what was called the bunker. It was essentially a small city that was surrounded by a brick wall with the words Sorry Adella spray-painted on it. Protected from the outside, the survivors in the bunker had flourished and established a society that worked like a well-oiled machine.

Adella, it turned out, was a tiny human being with absolutely no qualms about telling anyone where they could stick it, which made her a perfect candidate for running a post-apocalyptic city. And as much as Michael liked her, he was going to punch someone if he had to listen to Calum going on about her any longer. 

(Yes, it was awesome that she had a degree in engineering. Yes, he knew that she’d set up the bunker so that they could have electricity. Yes, he knew that she was really good shot. Yes, he knew how fantastic Calum thought her ass was.) 

But Michael was genuinely fascinated by all of the people who lived in the bunker. During the week that they had been there he had met a former lawyer who was now in charge of the vegetable gardens, a novelist from Jersey who ran the radio station, a surgeon from Maine, a 74 year old Korean woman who didn’t speak a word of English, a school teacher from Nebraska, a chemistry professor from North Carolina who liked to find ways to blow up zombies, a couple of college kids from New York, and a master chef from Italy, among others. 

Their second day in the bunker, the boys had all agreed that it was worth it for them to stick around for a while. Hot meals, a real bed, and even cold showers were too tempting to pass up on. At least for now.

The four of them shared a house, and it felt so much like old times, even if they ate their meals in a giant hall with everyone else in the bunker and their showers were taken at the local gym. It felt so normal that sometimes Michael had to remind himself that there were still zombies running around rampant in the rest of the world. 

They were starting to fall into the routine of life in the bunker. There weren’t a lot of rules, and Adella had made it clear that as long as everyone pulled their weight and was respectful to the other inhabitants of the bunker there wouldn’t be any problems. She had stared each of them in the eyes as she said it, and if Michael was being honest with himself her intensity had scared him.

That was the thing about the apocalypse. 

It wasn’t the zombies that Michael was most worried about. 

It was the people.

Zombies were predictable. They jumped out of hiding places and tried to eat your flesh. People, on the other hand, were never as direct with their motives. And there were very few of them that Michael really trusted.

The guitar in Michael’s lap was so out of tune that it was ridiculous. They’d been carrying a pair of acoustic guitars with them since the beginning, none of them having the heart to leave them behind. They’d played them a couple of times at first, but as the weeks went by and they all started to lose hope, they’d stopped taking the guitars out of their cases.

And as Michael sat on the kitchen countertop, trying to tune the guitar by ear, he was reminded of just how much he missed everything that they had before zombies stopped existing just in movies. 

“Dude, you aren’t even listening, are you?” Calum sounded exasperated.

“You were talking about Adella’s ass again, and I really don’t want to hear about that.” Michael was pretty sure that he was getting close to having the guitar tuned.

Calum scoffed and rolled his eyes. “It’s just ‘cause you’re afraid of her.”

“And you aren’t?” Michael laughed. “You’d have to be a total idiot not to be at least a little afraid of that woman.”

The grin on Calum’s face was devious, and Michael really didn’t want to hear what he was going to say next.

“Where’s Luke?” Michael sent up a silent prayer of thanks that Ashton had interrupted when he had.

“Daphne dropped by this morning. She said something about a compound bow and then they were taking off. I didn’t ask questions.” Michael shrugged, he still didn’t understanding how that – whatever it was - worked. 

There was a moment of silence.

“Okay, I’m just going to come out and say what we’re all thinking. Whatever is going on with Luke and Daphne is weird and I don’t like being in the room with the two of them ‘cause there’s just too much sexual tension.” Calum shivered a little, like he was trying to shake the gross feeling from his skin.

Ashton laughed at him. “Like there is with you and Adella?”

“Sexual tension would require the attraction to be mutual.” Michael just grinned as Calum scowled at him.

Ashton just kept laughing, leaning against the counter next to Michael for support. “Don’t worry Cal, you’ll get her eventually.”

Calum walked out of the kitchen muttering something that sounded a lot like “I hate this band” and it made Michael’s heart clench for a second. 

“So what are you up to today?” Ashton was eyeing the guitar strangely, almost as if he wasn’t sure that it was real.

Michael handed the now tuned guitar over and hopped off of the counter and he smiled when he heard Ashton tentatively play a couple of chords. “Going with some of the guys to pick up furniture in the afternoon. And then we’re prepping for that road trip tomorrow. They’re hoping to find stuff near Philadelphia.”

Ashton nodded. “Luke going with you?”

“Yup,” Michael confirmed. Because even after settling into the bunker, they never went anywhere dangerous alone. They went everywhere in pairs, and though no one had questioned them on it yet, Michael was sure that Adella and Daphne were aware of it. 

Ashton had hopped up onto the counter and was playing the chords to a familiar song and it put Michael’s heart at ease. 

Maybe the world wasn’t as over as he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Calum

Calum really needed to get laid.

That was the conclusion he had reached after the fourth time he had overreacted to a loud noise while sitting in the dining hall. 

Luke and Michael had been gone for not even two days and his nerves were already feeling fried. And the only solution that he could come up with to deal with his problem was to get laid.

That, of course, was made difficult since he had set his sights on the most unattainable person in the entire bunker. 

Ashton had been sneaking off with someone for a couple of days now. Luke had whatever he had going on with Daphne. Calum hadn’t told anyone else but he’d caught Michael making out with the girl from the radio station. 

And Calum was left pining over their fearless leader.

He’d never admit out loud that he was pining but he knew that it was true. And he was pretty sure that she knew it too.

“Calum.”

He was again startled from his thoughts but this time it was by the redhead who had dropped into the seat next to him.

He tried to regain his composure. “Daphne.” 

“Got any plans for the day?” The question sounded casual enough but Calum wasn’t convinced.

“Don’t know yet. Eddie said something about picking cabbage,” Calum shrugged.

Daphne rolled her eyes. “Come on. I’ve got something way more fun for you to do.”

Without any more explanation she got up and walked out, leaving Calum stunned for a moment before he started scrambling to put his dishes away and followed her out the door.

Adella gave him a questioning glace as he passed and he just winked at her before leaving the building and racing to catch up to Daphne.

“So what’s in the bag?” The black duffle bag was nondescript but Calum had a couple of ideas as to what it might be.

“Guns,” she responded with a smirk.

“Always a sign of a good time.”

When they reached the wall that surrounded the city, they stopped. Calum watched as Daphne picked a ladder up off of the ground, set it against the wall, and started climbing. When she got to the top, she threw her legs over the edge and settled herself on top of the wall.

“Are you going to join me or are you just going to keep staring at my ass?” The smile on Daphne’s face was sarcastically sweet. 

“Happy?” Calum asked once he was perched on top of the wall next to her.

She gave him an unamused look. “Thrilled.”

“So what are we doing up here?” Calum asked as he took in the view. He could see pretty far out and the stillness was almost calming. He idly wondered if this was what it was like to be a bird.

“You’ll see.” Rummaging through her bag, Daphne pulled out two rifles and handed one to Calum. She reached back into her bag and pulled out something that Calum thought was probably a tiny explosive device. Before he could ask her why she had it, she chucked it at one of the empty houses not that far away. The tiny explosion went off, and a second later, there were a half dozen zombies coming out of the shadows.

“Damn.” Calum was impressed. Picking up the rifle, he familiarized himself with it before taking a shot.

He missed by a lot.

Daphne laughed. Picking up her own rifle, she easily picked off two zombies in quick succession. 

“You have to keep practicing. It’s a lot more accurate than that shotgun you use and you can get a greater distance out of it. But you have to practice with it if you want to hit anything.” This friendly and relaxed demeanor was so far from the usual side of Daphne that Calum wasn’t sure how to respond.

Repositioning the rifle so that his hold matched hers, Calum took another shot. This one was closer, but still a miss. It had served, however, to get the zombies’ attention and caused them to head toward the wall. 

“Fuck,” Calum said, starting to worry.

“Better hurry up,” Daphne teased. When she didn’t make a move to take any more of them out, Calum came to the conclusion that the whole thing was a test for him.

Taking a deep breath, he lined up his next shot and blew the head clean off the closest zombie.

“Hell yeah!” He cheered, his adrenaline was going and he couldn’t help but smile smugly. 

The next shot wasn’t as accurate but it took the arm off of his target and he laughed out loud as it flailed. 

Daphne let out a little chuckled as the one armed zombie toppled over. 

“Fuck that,” Calum muttered as it kept crawling towards the wall. It took him a couple of shots but he managed to take out all of the remaining zombies and fist pumped the air once they were all done.

Daphne laughed as she clapped. “Well done.”

“I don’t know whether you’re being sarcastic or not, but I’m going to take it as a compliment.” Calum was having fun but he couldn’t help but wonder why she had set this all up for him. “So what are we doing anyway?”

“We’re bonding.” The smile on her face was slightly predatory and Calum had to fight the urge to scoot away from her.

“Bonding?”

She shrugged. “I’ve spent time with all of your friends and I haven’t really gotten to know you. I wanted to know if I could trust you.” She paused and looked Calum up and down. “Plus, Adella was my best friend even before zombies and it’s important to me that she stays safe.”

Calum let out a groan, “Luke told you. Didn’t he?”

This time she outright laughed at his pain. “Maybe. But it’s not like I didn’t already have my suspicions. You aren’t exactly subtle. And, well, neither is she.”

Whipping his head to look at her, Calum was sure he looked ridiculous. “What do you mean ‘neither is she’?”

Daphne laughed again. Calum was preparing to make a comment when her laughter cut off and her smile dropped. Turning to look in the same direction, Calum felt his heart  
stop.

A hundred yards away, zombies were headed towards the wall of the bunker. 

And there were a lot of them. 

Daphne cursed under her breath as she pulled out a pair of binoculars. “There has to be at least a hundred of them.”

“What the hell?” Calum was frozen, unsure of what to do.

“Go find Adella. I’m going to get some people together. And make sure someone radios the people on the road trip. Tell them to be careful and not to come back until we give the all clear.” Daphne had shouted most of the instructions down at Calum as he raced down the ladder. And as soon as she finished, he took off running. 

So much for the bunker being a safe place, he thought as he started running faster. And he swore that if they made it through this, he was definitely going to need to get laid.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Ashton

Very few things startled Ashton.

But when Calum came crashing through the front door, Ashton jumped. His heart was racing and it took him a second to decode what Cal was yelling about. As soon as he’d figured it out, he grabbed he blue backpack he kept by the door and took off after his best friend.

The safety of the bunker meant that many of the habits that Ashton had established in order to survive in a world with zombies were no longer necessary or practical. The compulsion to keep a bag of weapons that was ready to go was not one of them. 

As he and Calum raced towards the big building in the center of the bunker, he could feel the handle of the baseball bat hitting his shoulder where it stuck out of the top of the bag. Maybe he had been cooped up too long, but he was itching to swing it at something. And it was looking like he was going to get a chance to today. 

The two of them burst through the doors of Adella’s office and she looked up from her meeting with a slightly annoyed expression. A moment later Calum was next to her whispering about what was going on and she went rigid. 

Over the past months they had spent so much time running, and the quick pace hadn’t been enough to make Ashton panic, but watching the way Calum was nervously talking to Adella made him worry.

“Jake, I need you to run to the radio tower. Have whoever is there tell the caravan not to come home until we give the clear.” Adella’s tone left no room for argument and the blonde boy took off running.

Seconds later, the doors flew open again as Daphne entered the office followed by Aaron and Jett.

Aaron and Jett had been in the Jeep the very first time the boys had met Daphne. They were part of the crew of misfits that usually ran around under her orders. They were decent guys, though Ashton could never shake the thought that they reminded him of a biker gang. 

“How bad is it?” 

Daphne grimaced. “I’ve never seen anything like it. There are at least twice as many as I’ve ever seen at once. I think we can take them, I’m just going to need backup.”

An entire conversation passed between the two women that Ashton wasn’t even close to understanding. 

Calum crept closer to Adella and put a hand on her shoulder. Ashton was convinced that if anyone else had tried it, she would have taken them out but their leader seemed to have a soft spot for Calum.

Adella broke the silence. “Everything is in the garage. Be safe.” 

Daphne turned to leave, gesturing for Calum and Ashton to follow her.

“No good luck kiss?” Calum was grinning down at Adella. 

Ashton rolled his eyes. Leave it to Calum to use a situation like this to hit on a girl.

“You manage to not get yourself hurt and we’ll see what happens. Now hurry up. You’ve got shit to do.” Her tone was dismissive but it didn’t seem to bother Cal.

“Yes ma’am,” he said with a mock salute. 

Quickly he dropped a kiss to her cheek before sprinting out of the room, dragging Ashton along by the arm.

“She’s going to kick your ass.” Ashton couldn’t stop giggling.

Calum flipped him off as they entered the garage, pausing for a second to take it all in.

Calling it a garage always seemed a little deceptive to Ashton. Yes, it housed the fleet of vehicles that were used for excursions outside of the bunker but the most important contents were easily the array of weapons that lined the walls. Daphne had made several trips down to Texas and the surrounding states during the early days and had managed to collect an impressive stash of guns and other such things.

“Hey, morons, let’s go,” Daphne called impatiently. Joining the others, Ashton found that she had already laid out what she thought each of them was going to need. 

Aaron and Jett had been joined in the Jeep by the twins, Dylan and Dayton, and Adella was leaning against the side of an ATV. 

She tossed Ashton a set of keys and nodded towards the second ATV. “This one’s yours.”

“And me?” Calum asked, looking up from packing a rifle into his bag.

Daphne grinned. “Ever driven a bulldozer before?”

Calum’s face lit up with a mischievous grin. “You better not be fucking with me.”

Chucking a key at Calum’s head, Daphne smirked. “Hurry up. We need to get going.”

It took Calum almost five minutes just to figure out how to turn the damn bulldozer on. But as soon as he did he was taking off as fast as it would let him with a look of pure joy on his face. 

Even after all the time that Ashton had known him, he still didn’t understand how Calum could be so unaffected by the fact that they were headed to face off against zombies. While normal people would be nervous and serious, Calum was buzzing with excitement like this was the best vacation ever. Forget playing to sold out stadiums, Calum’s best day ever was the day he got to run zombies over with a bulldozer.

Sometimes Ashton wondered if he should be concerned about how quickly Calum picked things like this up. But there was a zombie charging at him so he pushed it to the back of his mind to deal with later. 

Riding an ATV was fun. And as he and Daphne raced along beside Calum, trying to keep him safe, Ashton felt a rush of adrenaline. 

He used his bat to take out anything that got too close. And when a zombie got hooked on the back wheel of the bulldozer, Ashton used the gun strapped to his thigh to take it out. 

Apparently the bulldozer was effective because, in spite of the large number of zombies that had swarmed near the wall, there were only a few left. 

Laughing manically, Calum chased them down while Daphne and the others cheered him on, laughing when they managed to get away.

But Ashton had another concern. Pulling up next to Daphne, he bumped his shoulder against hers and pointed towards the east.

She cursed under her breath when she caught sight of the straggling zombies heading into an old building and then disappearing completely.

“I think they’re hiding out somewhere. A lot of them.” Ashton was good at playing it cool, but on the inside he was freaking out. Because this was a big deal in a bad way.

Daphne sighed. “I’ll talk to Adella. Don’t bring it up, we don’t need anyone panicking.”

With a nod, Ashton took off again to help Calum deal with the last zombie that he’d been chasing in a circle while Aaron and the others laughed.

He knew he wasn’t going to get any sleep until Luke and Michael came back. Once he knew that his three best friends were safe he’d be okay. But until then he was on high alert.

Fucking zombies.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - Luke

There was once a time when Luke enjoyed traveling. 

Living in a van that was constantly on the move for ten months had effectively squashed that.

And it didn’t help that there were only abandoned buildings left to see, reminders of what had once been and no longer was.

So Luke had been less than thrilled by the idea of joining the caravan headed to Philadelphia for supplies. But he knew that the bunker needed certain things and Michael had already been talked into going. So there he was, riding shotgun in a truck full of provisions while his best friend drove.

It was the same spot he’d been in when the message had come over the radio, warning them all not to come back until they were given the all clear. Luke wasn’t in charge, but in the panic that had followed the message, he was the one who started giving orders. The fact that everyone had listened to everything he said without protests was still a little surprising, but he was going with it. 

A big city like Philly had a lot of potential for supplies and for danger. So they’d played it safe as they continued to make their way through the city, picking up everything they could. And the moment that the voice had come over the radio to tell them that it was safe to come back, they all loaded up and headed out.

Adella wasn’t going to be happy that the trip had been cut short but everyone was too worked up to think straight and it was going to get someone killed. Or at least that was his story.

He just needed to see that his best friends were safe. And that Daphne was safe. He was willing to put money on all three of them being directly involved in anything that went down at the bunker.

Michael was driving too fast.

On a normal day, Luke would have made some snarky comment about Mikey trying to get them killed. But that day they both wanted to get back as quickly as possible. 

Michael might have thought he was being sneaky but Luke knew about the girl that he’d been hooking up with. Luke liked her enough (she’d been the one to play their songs on the radio) and he hadn’t brought it up with Mikey yet. It seemed like it was going to have to come up soon because when it hadn’t been her voice on the radio he’d started getting fidgety.

There was no doubt that when they got back to the bunker Cal and Ash were going to be the first people they checked on. But they both had someone else that they were worried about too.

Leadership was exhausting. Luke made a mental note to thank Ashton later for keeping the band in line ever since the beginning because he didn’t think he could have done it. Managing a half dozen adults who wanted to do exactly what he said had been so trying for Luke. And even if there were only three, of them Luke was sure that they had been an even bigger headache for Ash. Luke really needed to remember to thank him for all the times he kept them in line when they were a band and for keeping them alive in a world of zombies. 

They were getting close. The turn off that led to the back entrance of the bunker was just past the trees and Luke had never been more excited to be home.

As soon as they made the turn off, all thoughts of a shower and sleeping in his own bed were pushed to the back of Luke’s mind. Michael swerved and slammed on the breaks. 

Because standing between them and the bunker was a small horde of zombies. 

Luke cursed as he picked up a gun and leaned out the open window.

“If you fucking drop my gun I’m going to kick your ass,” Michael mumbled under his breath.

As soon as Luke fired the first shot, Michael started driving, making it impossible for the zombies to advance on them. When Luke emptied the magazine, he slipped back into the car to reload and as he leaned out the window again he heard the sound of another engine.

Speeding out of the bunker, guns blazing, was the black Jeep that had first welcomed them to Pittsburgh not that long ago.

Daphne and Calum were standing in the back while Ashton drove. He maneuvered the Jeep around so that they were taking on half of the horde while Luke finished up his half.

Whipping the truck around, Michael pulled up next to the Jeep as they all faced off against the last few zombies.

“Did someone call for the cavalry?” Ashton was grinning like an idiot and Luke didn’t think he’d ever been happier to see his friends.

“You missed me so much you had to come out and greet me, didn’t you?” Michael gave Ashton an exaggerated wink causing him to laugh.

“As cute as this is, there are some zombies that require our attention,” Daphne said with fake annoyance. 

“Yes ma’am.” Ashton hit the gas and the Jeep took off. 

Michael rolled his eyes as he sped off behind them.

The next few minutes were a blur of shooting guns, revving engines, and zombie guts. And when both cars pulled into the safety of the bunker, Luke was bouncing with adrenaline. 

Michael stepped out of the truck and came around to the other side and Ashton took the chance to wrap them both in a big hug. The past week was the longest that they had been apart since zombies became a thing so Luke didn’t complain and just pulled him closer.

“Group hug!” Calum shouted with a laugh.

Luke braced himself and was unsurprised when Calum’s body impacted his with more force than necessary. They all groaned and laughed as Calum wrapped his arms around them and pressed his face into Michael’s hair.

“So where – aw…” Daphne had come around the car and seen the four of them standing in a giant hug.

Luke wasn’t sure if she was mocking them or not, so he just ignored her for a second before pulling away.

“What were you asking?” Luke looked her up and down, noticing how tired she looked.

“Where is everyone else?”

“They’re just a little while behind us. The pickup is faster and we came ahead to make sure that everything was good,” Michael grimaced. “We should probably give them a heads up about the welcoming party.”

Daphne nodded. “I’ll take care of it. You guys all go get some food and whatever. We’re going to need you for unpacking soon.”

Mumbling their appreciation, Calum, Ashton, and Michael trailed out of the garage while Luke hung back for a second.

“You okay?” Luke knew the answer, but he asked anyway.

“Just tired. It’s been a really fucking long couple of days. I’m glad you guys are back though.” She gave him a small smile. “We’ll figure it all out. Now you go be with your friends, they were ridiculous without you.”

Luke let out a small laugh before pulling her into a tight hug. She let him hold her for a second before pushing him towards the door.

He jogged to catch up to the others who were in the middle of an animated discussion about all of the things they were going to do with the jar of Vegemite that Luke had found during their run.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you guys! You’ll never believe what I found!” Even if Luke hadn’t been there, he thought that the brightness of Michael’s smile was a dead giveaway.

Calum actually stopped in his tracks. “Where the hell did you find hair dye in the zombie apocalypse?”


End file.
